Methods and Systems for Remote Flood Zone Determinations

Abstract

This patent discloses methods and systems for remotely requesting a flood zone determination from a mobile device such as a smart phone. The methods and systems use the GPS receiver in the mobile device to determine the exact latitude and longitude of the user's location, thus eliminating the need for geocoding, eliminating errors introduced by manual data entry, and eliminating the need for the time consuming manual determination processes required, for example, for non-standard-addressed locations and for structures located near a 100-year flood zone.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]Organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have prepared extensive nationwide flood maps that categorize regions into flood insurance rate zones. For example, a “Zone A” region indicates that the region is more susceptible to flooding than a “Zone X” region. During the course of virtually every real estate transaction, one or more of the parties to the transaction needs to determine whether or not a given structure or piece of real property lies within an area that is susceptible to flooding. For example, a lender may use that information to condition a loan on the purchase of flood insurance, an insurance agent may use that information to quote and / or sell flood insurance, a residential home developer may use that information in planning the layout of home sites, a potential buyer may use that information in calculating an offer price, and a professional such as an appraiser or surveyor might use that information in prepara...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a system that helps determine which parts of a place are prone to floods. It solves issues with current systems by providing precise coordinates and eliminates uncertainty and potential human errors. This means that people can get flood insurance more quickly and accurately. Overall, the invention makes it easier to determine which parts of a place are at risk for floods.

Problems solved by technology

However, manual determination of a flood zone is a time-consuming process, and service providers have developed complex computer software in an attempt to automate flood zone determinations.

However, there are several known deficiencies in the current automated flood zone determination systems.

First, not every location has a precise street address.

Second, even where there is a known street address, the system is still subject to human error.

Third, a large plot of land, having a single street address, may encompass multiple flood zones that may or may not affect the actual structure.

The system will be unable to respond to the request automatically, and, without manual intervention, the service provider will run the risk of an inaccurate flood determination.

Fourth, in practice, while an interested party may make an in-field inspection of the property, in most instances, the party must return to the office to prepare and send the flood determination request to the service provider, or the party, if not using a flood zone determination service provider, will have to identify the appropriate flood insurance rate map and then locate the structure or property on that map.

This creates additional paperwork which must be manually filed, it creates additional opportunities for data-entry errors, and it adds to the amount of time required to obtain the flood zone determination.

Fifth, the special geocoding software is not foolproof, and on occasion, may not return the precise latitude and longitude coordinates for a given street address; while the geocoding software might allow manual correction of the coordinates using, for example, a satellite map overlay, this is time consuming and still subject to human error.

Images